Book Club
by qsmadness007
Summary: Set during About face, It’s Halloween and the team are flying back from a mission, Emily and Spencer have a discussion on a book club he is involved in as everyone else sleeps.


Dr. Spencer Reid absentmindedly sucked on a cherry Tootsie pop as he typed up an email. The plane was quiet as half of the team were sleeping or in deep thought over something.

Emily Prentiss, who was only half-asleep, glanced over at Spencer's laptop. His email seemed to be an essay on why he loved Halloween. "Are your emails always the length of a master thesis?" She teased.

Spencer not seeming to grasp the humor, blinked hard, looking at his screen confused for a moment. He took the lollipop out of his mouth before he said, "It's not really, if so it would be several chapters."

"I know, I was only teasing." She gave him a warm smile. "Your book club friend?"

Spencer nodded. "Yes, Apparently he says I owe him a few questions, though I think secretly he keeps slipping questions in for me to answer, without answering mine." Spencer had several friends from various professions, mainly law enforcement, where via the postal system they sent some recommended reading, and via email they would send questions for the person to answer. The questions were seemingly easy questions like "What is your favorite color?" But they had to be answered in the form of an essay using evidence, memories, quotes, and/or research. 

Thus Spencer's answer to the question "Why do you like Halloween," filling almost the whole screen on the computer in the tiny font that Spencer liked to use for his emails.

Though Emily knew from hearing Spencer talk about it earlier in the week, Spencer's answer was already long without intending to be. His mind constantly seemed to be functioning on extended run-on sentences with very little breaks.

"So, if I wanted to join your book club what would I have to do?" Emily wasn't sure if she really wanted to join but it sounded like a fun thing to do to keep your mind off of work at times. Plus, she had been thinking of a way to get closer to Spencer, ever since she realized a few weeks ago that she was falling in love with him. Though they were good friends now, she still wondered if there was some animosity from when she first joined the team and questioned him several times about his behavior, especially right after the Hinkley case. He never had outwardly shown any after the questioning, but she wanted to do whatever she could to show him she wasn't a bitch. (She felt she came off that way at times, not just around Spencer, but around everyone.)

He smirked at her. "Beat me at chess." He said through the lollipop, which he had put back in his mouth. He was actually surprised that she had asked him, and he had been thinking of not including members of the team since Gideon had been a member, and Spencer was always afraid people would just leave his life. He liked people in the book club to be in as long as possible, since it did require a bit of commitment. Something told him he should take a chance on Emily though, and let her join.

She laughed," I can already beat you any time and you know it."

Spencer mocked grumbled under his breath. "Maybe…" She had already beat him once, but he didn't want to admit to her that she was probably one of the only people who could consistently beat him if they had a chance to play all the time. "Do you want to use your work email for your computer, or the other one."

Emily was reaching into the bag at Spencer's feet, pulling out a miniature candy bar. "Work is fine."

He typed a few words on his email, before he took the lollipop out of his mouth again. "You get to answer the first question. I'll email you the basic instructions after I finish this, just because it is protocol. I will bring you some book s tomorrow." He already had some ideas for books that she might like in mind, but he hadn't brought them to her before. He had a crush on her since the day she had come, and he wasn't sure how she really felt about him, so he tried to avoid things that might seemed like he liked her. He was leery after his "date" with J.J. a long time ago, about letting anyone on the team think he was more than friends with them. Though at times it had crossed his mind to wonder what dating different members of the team would be like. "So, that way one person is bringing books, and the other is answering questions so we both are participating at all times."

He reached into his bag, and handed her a plastic bag filled with candy, setting it on the table." There is more chocolate in there if you want it." He said, before he put the lollipop back in his mouth.

"Thanks," She said as she shifted through the bag and pulled out all the chocolate. She set all but one of the pieces neatly in front of her. Then, she slipped the bag back into Spencer's messenger bag. "That sounds like a good plan." She opened the one piece of chocolate she had set aside, and opened it. She ate it in two bites.

Spencer nodded, he was glad he didn't have to explain the whole thing to her. He had explained it a couple months to her once when she had asked, and he always thought it better to start the book club with someone who knew all the dynamics of it. Plus, he figured if he did try to explain it to Emily right now, she might get mad because she could get annoyed occasionally if you explained something to her that she already knew about. He liked that in a way about her, because she didn't want old information, she would rather have new information.

"What happens if someone gives the person a book they have already read?" Emily asks after he had composed about five or six paragraphs of the email he was working on.

Spencer took the lollipop out of his mouth, "Well, the books are just suggestions. You are free to read it, or re-read it if you choose. Also, in the introduction email besides the rules and such is a current list of members and you are free to send any of them the book if you want. You are also free to give it away to someone else you might think wants to read it." He took a bite out of the tootsie roll center that was now showing.

Later in the week when he updated the blog that contained all the book club information, he would mention that Emily was now a member. The blog could only be accessed by a password, which Spencer had in the introduction email, along with any of the other information she might need about it. Emily would have the option to make an introduction if she actually wanted to interact with the other members of the book club or not.

"You have a piece of candy on your face." She reached over and wiped off a piece of red from the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks." He finished eating the lollipop, and then pulled the red wrapper from his pocket. He wrapped the stick in the wrapper, and put it in the plastic bag of trash in his messenger bag, also throwing Emily's candy bar wrappers in the bag. Most of the trash in the bag was from the children they had been giving candy to after the case, and all of it would be thrown out once they landed.

She picked up a magazine that was lying on the table, and started to read it.

Spencer went back to his email, finishing the essay. He scanned it quickly, and corrected a few minor errors before he sent it off. He opened another window. He then went into his documents, and pulled out the introduction letter. He copied all the text, and pasted it into a blank email. He refined a few phrases; for example "send in the books via mail" became "set on the other person's desk." He added a couple of questions, since he left them questions area blank in the introduction letter, since he changed it for each person.

Spencer decided for Emily that the questions would be "What is your favorite time of the year?" and "What did you want to grow up to be when you were little?" He double checked everything, and sent the email. "All set." He gave her a smile, as he signed out of the mail program and closed all the windows.

He was about to shut down the laptop, and maybe try to catch a little sleep, when she asked. "Can I use your laptop to check the email, I may or may not answer today, but I want to read it."

"Sure." He slid the laptop in her direction, since he knew for the first time that he was aware of, she had forgotten her laptop. "I might catch some sleep, okay, Emily?" 

"Thanks. Okay, Good night." She gave him a soft smile. 

Spencer leaned back a little in the seat, and closed his eyes.

Emily wondered if he knew how cute he looked at the moment. She smiled to herself, as she opened a window and went to her email server.


End file.
